Meet these authors and artist at PaizoCon!

Apr 6, 2012, 05:30 PM

Have you started planning your PaizoCon schedule yet? Better hit the pause button, because you're going to want to set aside some time to meet our special guests!

It's been ten years since Paizo Publishing was started, and five years since we started publishing our own line of gaming materials, starting with the first part of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, "Burnt Offerings!" Since that momentous and nerve-wracking release, we've written tomes of material, both for your own campaign setting through our Pathfinder Roleplaying Game line of books, or for our world of Golarion! But there was a time when we hardly knew anything about Golarion, and we had a small handful of authors and artists creating the world as we went. For our tenth anniversary, we've been promising to pull out all the stops—and now we're giving you a big spoiler to what awaits you at PaizoCon!

For the first time, you'll be able to meet all of the adventure authors from the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, along with famed and favored artist Wayne Reynolds, in one place! That's right, get your Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Hardcover ready for some signatures, because the chances of the stars re-aligning for this opportunity again are less than rolling 18/00 Strength for your 2nd Edition fighter!

For those of you just joining us, I'll give you a rundown on who you're going to see!

Wayne Reynolds: Artist extraordinaire, Wayne helped define the look and feel of all of our iconic characters, setting the gold standard for all of our art to follow. As part of our celebration this year, we've combined forces with Wayne to release his first hardcover art book, Visions of WAR!

James Jacobs: Paizo's creative director, James is responsible for much of the world of Golarion, but his adventure, "Burnt Offerings" launched the Pathfinder Adventure Path line. If you love pyromanianc goblins singing disturbing war chants, the town of Sandpoint, or Varisia, James is the man responsible for it!

Richard Pett: We call Rich a madman, but we mean it in such a loving way! "The Skinsaw Murders" brought adventurers into the city of Magnimar, a place finally getting its due later this year with City of Monuments! Dealing with obsession gone terribly wrong, the hungry dead, hints at a much greater plot awakening in Varisia, and an infamous battle, this adventure also introduced the haunt mechanic, something we've used quite a bit in many of our modules, adventure paths, and Pathfinder Society Scenarios!

Nicolas Logue: Giving ogres a whole new twisted life, "The Hook Mountain Massacre" plunges deep into the wilderness of Varisia when Fort Rannick suddenly goes quiet. Plans within plans are coming to fruition, and the terrifying rumors of giants massing for war is only the start. Logue first penned many memorable Dungeon adventures, including "Chimes at Midnight", and "Quoth the Raven", and added his own touches to the dark adventure "Carnival of Tears"!

Wolfgang Baur: Well known as the head kobold of Open Design and the guy that nurtured the idea of patron-funded roleplaying game projects, Wolfgang Baur has long contributed to Pathfinder, but in "Fortress of the Stone Giants", you'll get an adventure that hearkens back to original Dungeons & Dragons adventures—not to mention getting an up-close and personal look at what the enemy is bringing to bear not just against the party—but all of Varisia!

Stephen S. Greer: The cards have been laid out in the previous four adventures, and in "Sins of the Saviors", the party has to embrace the very magic that has wrought the return of a long-dead wizard and ruler of ancient Thassilon. These ancient secrets will either destroy or save your heroes, and back in Sandpoint lies the answer. Stephen, long an author of Dungeon magazine adventures, was one of the authors of the three-part "The Seeds of Sehan" series, which debuted in Dungeon #145.

Greg A. Vaughan: Even five years after we started the Adventure Path series, Greg continues to write Pathfinder adventures for us and for third-party publishers, and his magnum opus, The Slumbering Tsar, is finally available for release! Well before that though, he wrote the final chapter of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, "Spires of Xin-Shalast"! Taking the fight to their nemesis directly, the PCs will go to the ruins of ancient Thassilon and will have to wind their way through mountain passes and dodge the mighty blows of some of Thassilon's towering guardians! Wealth beyond imagining is for the taking, but the party will have to survive utter ruination before they can claim it—and save Varisia while they're at it!

In addition to our special guests, the entire Paizo Staff will be in attendance, along with many of our third-party publishers! Grab your dice, get your badge, and get ready to game—PaizoCon is coming to town! Check out the latest details right here, or if you're interested in a bit of history, check these blogs out!

Removed some unkind comments. Let's not derail this right out of the gate.

I missed whatever those comments were, but my guess is they were about Logue. We'll see if I can keep my cool so this comment isn't deleted as well.

I understand why you're having that particular lineup for the convention, but having Logue there is dredging up very bad feelings for all of us he stiffed. Well, I can't speak for those who have forgiven him (I obviously haven't).

Mind you, he advertised for his company on your website, and I never would have given him money had I known what would have happened. Do I blame Paizo? No. But I think it's poor taste to have any association w/ him at all on a professional level.

I've got a different view. Nick wrote absolutely top-notch material and I frankly miss his work. So frankly I'd love to see him return to the RPG writing career. Not that I think sitting on a panel means he's coming back, but one can dream.

No, I'm not out any cash. But even if I were, I would view things from a self-centered viewpoint. I want more Logue. I'd just make sure I bought it from Paizo, not directly.

Folks, "forgive and remember" is a good motto to live by. Especially if you want something from someone.

Removed some unkind comments. Let's not derail this right out of the gate.

I missed whatever those comments were, but my guess is they were about Logue. We'll see if I can keep my cool so this comment isn't deleted as well.

I understand why you're having that particular lineup for the convention, but having Logue there is dredging up very bad feelings for all of us he stiffed. Well, I can't speak for those who have forgiven him (I obviously haven't).

Mind you, he advertised for his company on your website, and I never would have given him money had I known what would have happened. Do I blame Paizo? No. But I think it's poor taste to have any association w/ him at all on a professional level.

Agreed whole heartily but forgiving and wanting my product and/or money back are two different things. Maybe he could take the time to explain to us what's going on? I could bring a thumb drive and he could copy over the Dark Vistas #1: Razor Coast, Dark Vistas #2: The Ebon Shroud, Dark Horizons #1: Cold Black, and The Known Universe Gazetteer files he has? I'd be happy to bring my paypal receipt.

I think Logue has the potential to have this turn into a public lynching. People are angry about what happened with Razor Coast, especially those who still haven't gotten refunds (Rightfully so!) And while Nick has designed some of the best games I've ever run, I think that his baggage might lead to an ugly scene.

Agreed whole heartily but forgiving and wanting my product and/or money back are two different things. Maybe he could take the time to explain to us what's going on? I could bring a thumb drive and he could copy over the Dark Vistas #1: Razor Coast, Dark Vistas #2: The Ebon Shroud, Dark Horizons #1: Cold Black, and The Known Universe Gazetteer files he has? I'd be happy to bring my paypal receipt.

No ill will, I just want what I paid for or my money back.

The whole incident has kept me from preordering anything, even from Paizo. I had almost fell for the preorder of Razor Coast because I wanted to see if it could be converted to run as a sequel or continuation of Savage Tide, but I've been so glad that I decided to wait for it to be released.

I want to hear more about the other attendees to this year's PaizoCon and the reason why (10th anniversary and the first Adventure Path, Rise of the Runelords). There are enough threads on that other topic already.

It is of course a real coup to have Rich Pett come over to the US, but the return of Steve Greer is also a big deal, in my view. He worked on some of the very earliest Pathfinder modules and it would be great to hear from him on his experiences.

May I suggest the authors engage in a pre-CON signing activity of all the hard bound RotRL's expected to be sold at Piazocon and also given to Tier-1 GMs? This would be faster, prevent a long lined signing event, and encourage people to buy it at PiazoCON.
Any left over signed books could then be sold for a premium on the web site.

As a Tier-1 GM, I will not have the time to stand in line for such a signing.

It is of course a real coup to have Rich Pett come over to the US, but the return of Steve Greer is also a big deal, in my view. He worked on some of the very earliest Pathfinder modules and it would be great to hear from him on his experiences.

The above mentioned are indeed an amazing pool of talent; if but half of them were in attendance, that would already be well worth the trip, to have ALL of them there, well that took a lot of work on someone's part (I would guess Erik had a hand in all this, but others too no doubt).

What is also very important to remember is the guest list above threw their talent behind Paizo when the company's future was not as secure as it is now. The writers and artists helped in the years when Paizo had to make the shift from magazine publishers and simple web store to take the necessary steps that would lead them to be the RPG darling they would become (can you guys still be called that?! Your the queen belle of the ball now!). And while some gamers may readily forget that fact, I am sure there were some 'lean months' where not everyone at Paizo was sure a 10th year anniversary would look so blissful.

And for all you guys playing PFS at PaizoCon, as you wear shirts to show with pride the factions you may belong to, why don't you ask Mr. Nic Louge who thought up the idea of a secret faction war to begin with?

Nor does "forgive and forget" and "acceptance no mater what" make for a stronger community.

I hope Logue makes a good showing at the Con, I hope he manages to come up with everyone's money (with appropriate interest), or the product that they are owed. Heck, I hope he comes back to the fold, from what I've heard, he's an exceptional talent.

Of course, I also hoped to win 600 million dollars on the lotto the other night. . . Hope in one hand . . .

I have mixed feelings about Nick being featured as a special guest. I appreciate his great work, but I am one of the Razor Coast pre-orders that has not gotten a refund. I thought that I had put it all behind me as a lesson learned. I guess I was wrong. I felt a little wrench in my gut when I saw his name on the list.

While I am not going to boycott the convention, stone anyone, or introduce myself to him as one of his victims, it does seem a little bit...what is the word I'm looking for...insensitive on the part of the planners to honor him. I don't know how widespread the incident really was, but it was certainly highly visible among the Paizo faithful.

I understand the theme. They're putting the band back together. I am all for him being there. But as a headlining special guest? There was probably a less controversial way to acknowledge Nic's excellent contribution to this fine product without seeming to overlook his behavior.

Whatever Nick Logue did in regards to his business and how many customers are upset with never getting refunds (let alone products) it doesn't take away from the fact that he was one of the 6 original authors of the flagship Adventure Path that essentially put Paizo on the road to where it is today. He's not being honored for being a lousy businessman, he's being honored for being a great adventure writer.

That is an impressive list, I am looking forward to meeting many of those I have not met before and meeting again those I have.

I have fond memories of getting to meet Nicolas Logue, Richard Pett and Wayne Reynolds at GenCon UK 08, and definitely looking forward to meeting Greg A. Vaughan who I still think, like Pett says, never sleeps...

Would love to see a Call of Cthulhu game with Nicolas Logue, Richard Pett and Greg A. Vaughan in it... ;)

Would love to see a Call of Cthulhu game with Nicolas Logue, Richard Pett and Greg A. Vaughan in it... ;)

Through the kindness and organizational skills of Lou Agresta I got to play a post apocalyptic dark super hero game run by Nic and played in by Greg and a half slumbering Tim Hitchcock (the man ran 10 slots and still took the PFS fans and his table GMs out for drinks!), and other Werecabbages at Gencon a few years back.

Wow. Tons of comments about Mr. Logue! Sounds like it was a bit of an oversight to have him invited although it might have been even more odd to not have him invited. For those that are disgruntled about the invite, I wouldn't worry too much, he'll probably catch "the flu" at the last minute and not actually attend. That's typically how these things go. Maybe Paizo has some sort of plan in mind to rectify the situation for everyone.

Actually, I would love to meet both Logue and Pett to get a further glimpse into the minds of two of the more twisted designers out there. I know there are those who are upset at Logue being on the guest list, and while his later business endeavor was truly unfortunate, it should not detract from what he did have a hand in prior to that.

RotRL was a breath of fresh air when it came out; a series of adventures designed for adult players with adult themes. All the authors deserve recognition for their roles in bringing it to life.

Sadly (and also not sadly :) we are still playing Savage Tide. These are the folks who brought these five years of a master campaign to my table (& many of the distractions that led to it being five years :). I am excited for this!